You may have the greatest idea for a product or startup in the world, but ultimately, without money, it is going to be difficult to make your idea grow and reach new audiences. One of the best ways to fast track the growth of your business is to seek seed funding from an investor. Below we look at how to get seed funding as a startup.

What is seed funding?

Seed funding is an initial form of investment made into a company purely to get it to grow to a self-sustainable level, or until it is ready for a larger round of investment. Seed funding is typically the second stage of investment, after start-up funding, which usually involves small amounts of money from family and friends. Seed funding, on the other hand, is done through angel investors, and they will typically take equity in return for offering investment.

Although it would be nice to maintain full control of your startup, this is not always practical, and seed funding offers a great alternative for keeping your business alive and up with the competition.

Should I raise seed funding?

Despite the above point, not every startup will need seed funding. Before you take this route, carefully consider whether you need seed funding or not. Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator, one of the most successful investment platforms, says “don’t raise money unless you want it, and it wants you.”

What this means is that if you’re going to be successful in pitching for investment, you have to show the investors that you want it enough and that your business wants it to. Investment is best for businesses that are fast-growing or are planning to grow fast with the investment, so if you fall into neither category, then seed funding is not for you.

How much seed funding should I raise?

Generally, “as much as you can” is the most common answer that you will find to this question, but remember that bigger does not necessarily mean better. Extra money can, more often than not, mean extra pressure, such as more due diligence, more control being passed over to the investors, and more questions that need to be answered about where the money is going.

But, the more money that you receive, the more likely it is that you can get your startup to a profitable point at which you may not need investment again in the future. As with the last point of considering whether investment is right for your business, carefully consider how much seed funding you need as well.

When you pitch to investors to get seed funding, you want to show them exactly why you want the amount that you do, and show them exactly what impact this will have on your startup. You need to convince the investors that they should be parting with their money for your startup. For this, consider what your burn rate is and what your milestones and goals will be, as investors are likely to ask you these questions.

Sourcing seed funding for your startup

Once you have carefully considered both why you want investment and what you will do with it, you can carefully craft your pitch to deliver to investors. There are hundreds of investors, funding platforms and crowdfunding campaigns available for you to source the necessary seed funding for your startup.

You could use crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter or accelerators such as Y Combinator, as mentioned earlier. Each of the different types of platforms offer its own unique benefits, targets and levels of investment, and you need to find the one that best reflects your startup interests, goals and funding required. Resources such as this are a great place to start to see the different platforms available to you.

Also, considering reading guides such as A Guide to Seed Fundraising for further detailed information on the process. Seed funding, while a big commitment, can help scale and grow your startup immensely to help it reach new heights. Carefully think about where you want your business to go over the next few years, and from there you can decide just how and why you want to seek seed funding.

If you fully believe that you both need and want seed funding, then this will come across in any pitch that you make to investors, securing you that much-needed investment.

If you are an online business, then fast internet and loading speeds are the absolute bedrock for the stability and profitability of your company. While the digital world is getting bigger and better, and we can use our browsers now for almost anything, this increase in the scope of the internet can lead to slow loading, lagging or even crashing. Below we explore how you can speed up your load times without needing to spend money on faster broadband speeds.

Update your browser

Google Chrome is the most used browser on the internet (having recently overtaken Internet Explorer), but pretty much all browsers work the same way with similar features. One of the first things that you can do to speed up your browser is check for any updates; your browser will not always update automatically, so this step often gets overlooked.

Not updating your browser could mean that you are running on an older, slower version, or one that is having bug issues. To find out if your browser has been updated, simply type in “update [name of your browser]” into the browser you use and follow the steps provided.

Disable any toolbars, extensions or plugins

Toolbars, extensions, and plugins are like add-ons or apps for your browser, and some have many useful functions and purposes. However, it may be that you have accidentally installed some that you do not need, or that you no longer use, and deleting or disabling these can help to speed up your browser.

You can usually view your toolbars, extensions and plugins from the settings menu in your browser of choice.

Clear history, cache, and cookies

Another useful way to speed up your internet browsing is to clear your history, cache, and cookies.

Cache: your internet cache is locally stored image and content files from websites that you have visited. This is useful as the next time you visit that webpage, the content and files will load quickly. However, as your cache builds, it will take longer for websites to source through your growing stock of locally stored content.

Cookies: cookies are also locally saved files, but on you as the user, such as usernames and passwords.

History: this is your browsing history, keeping a record of every site you have visited.

Clearing these three saved pieces of data and information can help your browser to run faster. However, it can also cause inconveniences, such as with you having to enter your user name and password again.

Sit nearer the router

This one is not always practical for everyone, but the further away you are from your internet router, the slower your internet is going to be, especially if the signal has to travel through solid objects like walls. If possible, consider moving closer to the router.

Use minimal tabs

There will be points while you are working that you need several tabs open, and modern browsers are designed to support this. However, the more tabs you have open, the slower your browser will be, especially if each page is rich in content, audio or visual files.

If possible, aim to have the absolute minimal number of tabs open; perhaps by working your way through each tab individually and closing it once you are done with it.

Extensions

Although we talked earlier about disabling any unnecessary or un-used extensions and plugins, there are some useful add-ons available that can help with the speed of your browser. Extensions such as Google’s Data Saver work by running some internet traffic through Google’s servers, thereby reducing the downloads per page and helping to speed up slower pages.

Turning off prefetching and automatic loading

Modern browsers attempt to predict where you will head next on your webpages, and while this can be extremely useful, it can also slow down your browser, especially if it gets its predictions wrong!

We’d only recommend this for really slow browsers, and if you feel that yours is one of these, simply type “turn off prefetching in [name of your browser]” into your search engine and follow the steps that are listed.

Minimise the other tasks that you are doing

If you have multiple documents, applications, and e-mails open on your desktop, regardless of whether it is on a browser or not, it is going to slow down the processing speeds of your computer, and therefore, your internet. Keep your computer running as little tasks as possible, so that when you need to use the internet, it can run at full power.

As we move into the second quarter of 2016 it is a good time to take stock of your piles of papers, documents and statements and assess what can be shredded, what should be kept and what can be saved online. This guide will help you to decide what to do with all of your paperwork and prevent it from piling up around you.

Things that should always be saved

There are some types of documents that will never be replaced by online copies – you will always need originals of certain important papers. It is a good idea to invest in a safety deposit box or a fireproof safe to ensure that these items never get damaged, stolen or lost.

Remember – safety deposit box can be useful, but they are only accessible during banking hours. Some of these documents could require immediate access.

Always Save Physical Copies Of the Following:

Birth certificates for all family members

Marriage licenses and/ or divorce decrees

National Insurance Card (if you have one)

Pension plan documents

Copies of your investment portfolio

Military records and discharge papers

A copy of your will, living will, health care proxies, powers of attorney and trusts (remember, your attorney and executor should also have copies of this)

An inventory of your safety deposit box

Life insurance policies

House insurance policies

Paperwork that you can shred

Bank statements – Many people suggest that you keep at least one year’s worth of bank statements (and some even recommend five), but in today’s day and age these are available on your online banking website and easy to access when you need them. In fact, many banks are going paperless and only offering online statements. If you are still receiving paper statements and you want to be extra cautious, you can always scan them and save them to the cloud, but otherwise – go ahead and shred.

Credit card bills – The same goes for credit card bills – it is very rare that a bank will not have these stored online, ready to be accessed if you need to dispute a charge or balance your accounts. These can safely be shredded, but again – you might want to store a scanned copy to the cloud.

Tax returns and all supporting documents older than 7 years – If you have been lugging around bulky cabinets of old tax return information for your small business, now is the time to assess and shred. If seven years have passed you can no longer be audited and so you no longer need these papers. If you want to keep them for your own use, scan them and store them online.

Pay stubs and statements – Keep these for one year, and ensure that they match your end of year statement. Once a year has passed, you can happily shred these. You may want to keep a copy on the cloud for your own records.

Investment monthly statements – Keep all confirmations and statements until you can see them detailed on your monthly report, and then feel confident in shredding them.

Utility bills and phone bills: Don’t shred these space wasters until you’ve paid them, unless they contain any tax-deductible expenses. Look into whether you can have your bills switched from paper to electronic versions.

Paperwork to keep (only for long as you own the object):

Appliance manuals and warranties – This information should be kept handy, just in case something happens to the item and you need to fix it, cash in the warranty or contact the company.

Loan documents and vehicle titles – Keep these in a safe place that is also easily accessible, as having them on hand will save you a lot of time and effort should something go wrong.

Your home and mortgage documents – This can include the deed to your home, any records of your purchase, all improvement and inspection record and all of your mortgage agreements.

What to store on the cloud

The options of what information you can store on the cloud are endless – any document, picture, file or music can be uploaded, making it accessible from anywhere on the planet, as long as you are connected to the internet. Cloud storage has many benefits as well, namely that it is cheap. Storing tons of digital data in a data storage system can be costly, while cloud storage provides an alternative at a fraction of the cost.

Of course, after many high profile security leaks, many people are rightfully concerned about the security of cloud storage. Is it really a secure method? The answer is yes – as long as you select a well reviewed cloud company that has a proven track record of excellence. Here are some tips on how to choose a good cloud storage provider.

Here are just a few things that you might want to store on the cloud:

Manuals and protocols – If you own a small business, it can be costly and time consuming to print out employee manuals for new hires. Instead, direct them to a shared folder on DropBox or similar where they can find all of the information that they will need. This can save you reams of paper and a lot of clutter.

Lists and old emails – If you are planning to save any online correspondence, lists or writing for sentimental values or business purposes, resist printing them out and instead store them to the cloud.

Photos – The cloud is the perfect place to store photos, music and other files that take up room on your hard drive – and on your physical desk!

Music – This one is more about keeping a clutter free computer (rather than your physical space), but storing your music online is the best way to save space on your hard drive.

As you can see, there are plenty of choices for how you can store your documents while keeping them safe, clutter free and well organised.

The manner in which you communicate a message is just as important as the message itself. When we talk about the internal communication of a company we are usually referring to just how effective the communication really is.

If your communication methods fail to properly transmit your company’s actual and required goals to staff, the business will surely suffer as a result. And if you can accurately share your company values with your staff, you can be sure they will understand and act accordingly. The obvious and favourable result? The enduring success of your business.

These days, a vibrant and positive company culture can play a huge role in distinguishing your business from the competition. You can make this work in your favour, not solely by what you actually communicate to your team, but how you do so. Your absolute highest priority this year should be to bring out the best in your staff by inspiring them to higher levels of dedication and productivity.

The following practical strategies are meant to achieve this in the shortest time possible:

1. Keep the channels of communication wide open

Make it a rule that anyone is able to approach senior staff, no matter which department they work in or which supervisor they answer to. This should be nailed down in your internal communications system so that it serves as a fluid platform for healthy communication to take place across all sections of the company.

This approach helps employees feel encouraged to speak to one another, and does wonders to dispel the strangeness sometimes brought on by corporate formality. It means that your team will be able to quickly interpret the ideologies of the firm.

Potential issues with staff, grievances, and concerns can all be addressed quickly without causing disruption to usual activities. And the boosted team building that results from free flow communication in your company helps to keep productivity consistent as well.

Here are a few simple ways to quickly integrate improved internal communications at your company.

2. Your team is part and parcel of the industry

Business owners who like to play things close to the chest soon regret the approach and eventually have to involve staff in fixing bad decisions. People like to feel a part of something bigger, so sharing the goings on in your industry helps them feel they are contributing in a meaningful way.

You can keep your staff updated with the latest industry news at the touch of a button these days, and it also provides ample motivation at the start of each day. Let everyone be exposed to the inner workings of the industry and see how your company fits into the bigger picture. This will generate enhanced interest in the work that you do, and your team will feel like sharing what they learn both inside and outside the company. Your company will soon be regarded as a major player in your neck of the woods.

The vast majority of employees agree that job satisfaction counts for as much as their total pay cheque, especially when they are acknowledged for their personal contributions made to your company. This is the opportunity to make a positive noise about it. Using internal communications to convey praise to your staff is a sure way to increase engagement and motivate a culture of achievement in your business.

It helps the larger staff component to want to strive for similar success, which in turn boosts productivity across the board. Sometimes it can be as simple as sharing the success of a particular department at your firm through a company-wide email or newsletter. But the resulting environment takes staff morale to higher and healthier levels.

4. Create channels for employee feedback

We are always concerned with what customers and clients think and say about the company, but we can neglect the valuable feedback that is lurking right there within company walls. A company that actively takes its staff members’ thoughts, ideas and suggestions into account is almost guaranteed to reap multiple rewards. The shift to constant improvement also demands that we are cognizant of staff experience and find creative ways to make each individual an active contributor.

So, why not use the existing internal communication platform as the perfect springboard to generating improved staff participation? You could make use of convenient chat software that will help capture ideas as and when they occur, directly involve any staff member no matter their designation, and promote improvement and participation at the same time.

5. Embrace the technology of the day

Most of the time your staff are too busy in their regular duties, so realistically you do not want your internal communications to become a distraction and hindrance to their work. We are quite lucky in this modern age to have numerous programs and software at our disposal.

When used correctly these are meant to make our life easier. So, in the same manner, your use of these software tools should be kept simple and streamlined. A few good software examples for enhanced internal communication are:

6. Inspire as well Inform

One of the chief goals of internal communication is obviously to inform staff members, but it can be used for so much more. Lack of motivation and encouragement leads to reduced productivity and neglect of duties. The very same system that you use to pass critical company messages to your staff can and should be used to inspire action!

There are so many ways to incorporate this idea to your existing communication. You can share motivational quotes, especially if they reflect your company’s vision. You could make it known that you are providing incentives and bonuses if certain objectives are met. And above all, you should learn to cleverly work in calls to action inside interoffice emails.

You have probably heard the term “web analytics” bandied about, but you might be unsure about what it means and how it can help your website, no matter what industry you are in. If you are unclear about web analytics and want to learn everything you need to know, read ahead, because this article is for you.

What are web analytics?

Simply put, web analytics are the measurements that analyse how your site is performing on the internet, information that can then be used to assess your site and optimise it for the future.

Your site analytics can provide data on:

The demographics of the people who visit your site.

How they got to your site (i.e. did they come from an external link on someone else’s site, a Google search or by typing your web address directly into the search bar.

What they did once they were on your site, and the order in which they navigated your different pages.

How much time in total did they spend on your site?

Where they went after visiting your website. Did they follow one of your internal links?

What applications can you use to attain your web analytics?

There are countless different applications and tools that you can use that will help you assess how your site is performing. Some of the best options out there include:

Google analytics – One of the best options is the most obvious. Google Analytics offers a whole suite of online performance trackers that help you understand your users’ behaviour and optimise the way that you relate to them. In their own words, “the Google Analytics 360 Suite delivers the customer and advertising insights you need to set your marketing strategy, drive sales, and ultimately outperform the competition.”

Crazy Egg – Crazy Egg is a useful tool that enables you to create a ‘heat map’ that tracks your users’ clicks in order to see exactly how they interact with your website. This helps you to assess your site’s usability and make any necessary changes to increase your average user’s experience when on your page.

Kissinsights from Kiss Metrics – Kissinsights provides businesses with the ability to install a Javascript plugin that will instantly ask your website’s users a series of simple questions and ask for valuable feedback. You can choose exactly which questions you would like to ask your site visitors, and review the answers in order to learn about how they experience your website.

What information do web analytics applications usually provide?

Web analytics tools can provide you with truly valuable insights, not only about your own website, but also about the people who visit your site.

This can include (but is not limited to):

Campaign Data

The specific campaigns that were most successful in driving users to your site.

All of the domains that referred your site’s traffic

The keywords that people used in order to find your site

Your Audience

The number of visits that you have had to your site

Demographic information about your users, including the countries in which they are located

Whether your visitors are new or returning users

The browser they are using to access your site, whether it be Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or other options

Other Audience Metrics

Which page on your website visitors landed on, and which page they exited from (i.e. your homepage, About Us, a specific product or FAQs)

You have the analytics information – now what?

Once you begin to examine the analytics reports about your website, you may feel that the sheer volume of information you are provided with is overwhelming. Indeed, trying to make sense of this vast quantity of data all at once is almost impossible – you should instead ensure that you have decided the goal of your enquiry before you start your examination by setting out clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This will help you to get the most from your data.

The metrics that you choose to prioritise will depend on what you hope to improve about your site at this time – engagement, length of time spent on a specific page, the actual number of visitors or which links users choose to follow (if any) from your site.

Once you have decided which metrics are most important to track at this time, you can easily set up a series of scheduled reports to be emailed to you on a regular basis. These emails can remind you to check your analytics, assess new developments and make changes when necessary.

Analytics – Always Important to your Success

As you can see from the information above, tracking your website’s performance is easier than you think – but this should not make you underestimate its importance.

Once you understand your visitors’ online behaviour you are then able to change your site in order to optimise your success. This data can help you make educated and calculated changes to your website based on accurate and actual data – this prevents you from making wild guesses and changes the things you think might make a difference.

Assessing your analytics will also help you choose advertising and promotion techniques that are most suited to your site. Based on this data, you can see how many users are being driven to your site by any advertising campaigns you have done, and ensure that these users are members of your ideal audience.

In addition, analytics are also a simple way to track any broken links or faulty code on your site. They can help you notice a 100% decline in customers to a certain part of your page, alerting you that a page is down and giving you an opportunity to fix it before too many sales are lost.

If you are in the need of accounting software for your small to medium enterprise (SME) you have many choices. Long gone are the days when Quickbooks was your only option – today’s cloud based accounting programs are innovative, adaptive and designed to help you keep track of your books in ways that are well suited to your start up business.

The old giants of accounting software are being challenged and overthrown by a new wave of web based programs that will help you to keep track of your profits and losses, your VAT, your cash flow, invoices, employee wages and more.

If you are overwhelmed with all of the options on the market and wondering what you should consider when making your decision, read ahead.

Remember – large corporations often employ a ‘finance manager’ or lead accountant who is one of the most important people in the company. Your accounting software will play this role until the time when you too need a dedicated accountant – don’t treat this decision lightly. Take your time and do your research – What functions do you need your accounting software to be able to handle? What are the daily tasks that you need it to do? These are all things to consider.

What country was it designed for?

While Australian or American accounting software will certainly work for many aspects of your business needs, it will not be able to meet all of your specifically British needs. If you choose to go with a foreign product, ensure that it has a setting for UK businesses.

Does it include VAT options that will suit your business?

If you are already VAT registered or plan to become VAT registered in the future, you will need to assess some of the functions on any accounting software you are researching. Can it accommodate Flat-Rate VAT? Will it automatically produce a VAT return, and can this be submitted to HMRC from within the software program. If your business has any complicated VAT rules to follow, you may need software that implements Reverse Charge calculations automatically – be sure to check this.

Does it offer multiple currencies?

Many software programs offer multiple currencies, but some do not. If you regularly do business in Euros, dollars or other currencies, this could be an important consideration when you make your decision.

Will it automatically link to your personal annual tax return?

Some software options will take all of the input information about your salary, profits and dividend payments and will link this directly to your personal tax return. Programs, such as FreeAgent, even have the capacity to submit your annual return directly through the software, saving you heaps of time and energy.

Can it link to your bank accounts?

Can this software easily link its information to your bank account? While certain programs need you to physically upload your bank statements, others can set up an automatic feed that communicates to your bank account and credit cards. The automatic option is preferable to many small business owners, as this means that they are always up-to-date.

Do you like the interface?

Before you sign on for a contract with any accounting software, you should ask for a free trial (if it is not automatically offered). This is important when assessing if the interface will work for you, and if you find it easy to use. If you find the system intuitive to browse, you will have a better time finding features that you use on a daily basis.

What kind of Reports does it offer?

This is a key measure of usability when it comes to selecting the right software for your business. First, you must determine what it is that you require – do you need comprehensive reports on a daily or monthly basis? Some other common reports to consider include (but are not limited to):

A monthly balance sheet that includes details about all of your company’s assets, liabilities and your capital balance over the past year

Your monthly Profit & Loss reports

Debtors and creditors over 30, 60 and 90 day periods

Information about your open ledgers

A forecast of your upcoming year

Does it include payroll capabilities?

The ability to keep your payroll information neat and tidy within your accounting software will be a real time saver, and could prevent costly mistakes. Some programs include this option as a default, and others offer it as an add on.

Do you like the invoices it generates?

When trialling out your new accounting software, it is a good idea to generate a test invoice, so that you can see the layout, design, features and the overall ease of creation. This is a document you will be sending to your valued clients, so it is imperative that you like the way it looks.

Do they offer high quality customer service?

In the event that you do need help with your accounting software package, it is important that they offer reliable and affective customer service. If you are often working late at night or on weekends, it pays to check their hours and find out if help will be on hand on holidays.

Choosing from options on the market

Now that you have thought about what features are important to you and your business, here are some well rated accounting software programs for SMEs that you should have a look at as you begin your search.

Xero – Xero is the UK’s leading cloud based accounting software, and boasts fantastic reviews from its users.

Wave – Touting itself as a free alternative to QuickBooks, Wave is a simple accounting product that will be attractive to many SMEs based on its no cost model.

FreeAgent – Specifically for small start ups and freelancers, FreeAgent has a UK focus and a host of features that self employed individuals will find valuable.

Kashflow – Easy to use and ultra simplified, Kashflow is a good option for you if this is your first attempt at doing your own books.

“Formations Direct was created in 1994 to provide a reasonably priced Company Formation Service to the accountancy and legal profession that is backed up by high quality advice and technical support. From humble beginnings the company is proud to be servicing the needs of thousands of firms throughout the UK and beyond. ”